A quick bite of legal news!

FTC and Facebook Finalize Privacy Settlement

On Friday, August 10th, the Federal Trade Commission listed a press release regarding a settlement with Facebook. The press release is available here. Facebook was initially charged with sharing private user information with third parties and thus deceiving consumers on privacy settings.

As the press release states:

“The settlement requires Facebook to take several steps to make sure it lives up to its promises in the future, including by giving consumers clear and prominent notice and obtaining their express consent before sharing their information beyond their privacy settings, by maintaining a comprehensive privacy program to protect consumers’ information, and by obtaining biennial privacy audits from an independent third party.”

The original settlement talks between the FTC and Facebook were publicly announced in November 2011. The FTC posted the eight counts of privacy violation charges against Facebook and the proposed settlement here. Nine months later, the agency and company are closer to changing the future of privacy laws and enforcement.